Yesterday at Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference, Windows Server 2019 was announced. The Operating System will be generally available from October this year, building on the foundations of Windows Server 2016.

But what are the notable advantages of Windows Server 2019? What about it is innovative?

The current debate surrounding On-Site and Cloud is partially fuelled by how jarring the difference is between the two philosophies. Procuring, running and understanding On-Site servers is a different kettle of fish to procuring, running and understanding Cloud-based servers.

This is where Windows Server 2019 comes in. By making Hybrid a key focus of Windows Server 2019, Microsoft is covering all the bases. Hybrid is being advertised as a stepping stone towards the Cloud-based future, connecting On-Site environments to Azure with ease and convenience.

Users will also have a far easier time accessing Azure services thanks to the convenient middle man of the Windows Admin Center (which is its proper name, before the UK spelling police come knocking!). Windows Admin Center comes as an integral part of Windows Server 2019 and means that Azure services can be used without leaving a central user interface.

The final icing on the Hybrid cake is the Storage Migration Service. This is a swift and robust way of ensuring that migration from older servers onto modern platforms is seamless.

Security

In their blogs and press releases, Microsoft have set forth four different security principles: protect, respond, detect, and isolate. These are then applied to three “technology dimensions”[1]: manage privileged identities, secure the OS, and secure virtualisation-based security. On their own, these just sound like advertising waffle. But when viewed in context, the use of these seven terms points to ward a thorough emphasis on security within Windows Server 2019.

There is already plenty of content online explaining the intricacies of the various security measures featured on Windows Server 2019. Rather than trying to keep up with these deep-dives, I’ll keep it succinct.

The meaning behind these principles and technology dimensions is clear: with Windows Server 2019, security was a key priority from the first day of development onwards. Rather than viewing security as a bolt-on or auxiliary priority, Microsoft have understood the importance of security and ensured that Windows Server 2019 is as secure and efficient as possible.

Application Platform

This one is pretty straightforward. Based on feedback from various IT professionals and developers, the Windows Server team decided to reduce the container image size in order to improve user experience.

Another aspect of this improved efficiency is the reduced complexity of combining Linux and Windows deployments. The Windows Subsystem for Linux was previously extended into Windows Server. With Windows Server 2019, this system has been streamlined and improved.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure.

One of the many benefits of Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) is the scalability; deployments can scale from a small 2-node to a much higher number. Within Windows Server 2019, HCI is democratised so that it is kept at an affordable and efficient level regardless of scale.